26 - Wednesday, November 9, 1988 - North Shore News

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BWAANYAARAAANRAYN

DID YOU know that the first
Christmas tree came to Canada as
early as 1781?

Baron Frederick von Riedesel,
father of three young daughters,
lived in the village of Sorel, north
of Montreal on the south shore of
the St. Lawrence River.

He had a fir tree cut down from
the dense forest surrounding the
villege and his wife decked its
branches with white candles.

It became Canada’s first
Christmas tree.

A few yzars after the Sorel tree
was sel up, in the late 18th cen-
tury, white candles began twinkl-
ing on Christmas trees in Ontario.

After the American War of In-
dependence, German speaking set-
tlers, including Mennonites who
wanted to remain close to King
George of England because of his
German connections, headed to
Canada and brought the custom of
the Christmas tree to their settle-
ments around Kitchener.

Christmas Day has been cele-
brated on December 25 in Canada
for more than three centuries.

Some of the earliest references
to the celebration are found in the
journals of fur traders.

On Christmas Day, 1670, the
crews of ships Prince Rupert and
Wivenhoe were wintering at
Charles Fort on James Bay and
shared a meal of partridges and
venison with brandy and strong
beer.

Two Christmas themes — the
religious observance of the day,

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CHRISTMAS

DECORATIONS

Xmas decorations
have historical ties

and the fellowship of a hearty meal
shared with family and friends —
were found throughout the jour-
nals of Canadian fur traders, ex-
plorers and early travellers.

Records of Christmas decorating
customs in 19th century Canada
are rare, but Catharine Parr Traill
provides one of the earliest in her
book, The Canadian  Settler’s
Guide (1855).

Parr tells of collecting red-ber-
ried wintergreen to hang over the
mantlepiece and picture frames in
her host’s home in 1832.

Popcorn on string, a traditional
Christmas tree decoration, was
popular in the 1860s, and by the
end of the century it was being
threaded with cranberries, or dyed
red and green.

The origin of Santa Claus goes
back tc the legends surrounding
St. Nicholas in Asia Minor in the
4th century.

He became the patron saint of
boys and girls and the bringer of
gifts on December 6, St. Nicholas
Day..

The gift-bringer has appeared in
Canada in many forms; as St.
Nicholas, as the British Father
Christmas, and of course, as Santa
Claus.

Many of the decorating and cu-
linary rituals Canadians adhere to
are based on friendship and signify
good fortune and long life.

The practice of trimming homes
with holly, ivy and mistletoe, for
instance, began in Europe where
the plants were considered sacred
because they bear fruit in winter.

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